Now when I am shopping for a 10, I am probably going to go for PSA 10 more often because the 9.5 value play is just not the same like it was before the changes due to price the gap closing more (less incentive basically).
This is what I’m trying to deal with rn. I’ve been collecting CGC 9.5s for the past 2.5+ years because they were the best value proposition. Now that those CGC 9.5s are “10s,” they’re no longer the best value proposition. It’s a bittersweet thing for me and I’m still contemplating the most prudent way to continue building my sets.
On one hand, it’s nice that my sets now are full of 10s. On the other hand, now if I want to complete my sets I have to buy into the market’s irrational valuing of 10s.
Exactly my feeling. They were really severely and in some cases unfairly undervalued by the broader market which made for a good opportunity at times, especially for cards that you weren’t trying to flip or re-sell. I’ve shared the story a few times now but like I bought my CGC 9.5 Base 2 Charizard in the very early days of CGC grading for the same price as PSA 8s were selling for, it just seemed crazy to me.
So yeah, I wouldn’t rule out CGC 10s entirely going forward, but I have a feeling my incentive will be more towards PSA 10 simply because I know the market will most likely hold them to the highest value proposition. If I do buy a CGC 10 now I’ll have to convince myself it’s a strong value which I believe could still happen at times unless the overall market perception really changes with PSA or CGC.
Well I don’t have many high end cards sitting in CGC 9.5 either, so maybe it would be different if I were selling some and wanted the 10. For me, I don’t want my high end cards with CGC regardless.
